The start of a Fantasy Military Action series, this book is mainly concerned with the training of a Special Ops team and their first live engagement. It presents a sanitized version of the usual training-up-to-fight plotline. Competition is minimized, bullying and hazing are not present. These are people focused on becoming the best of the […]
“City Under Siege” by Michael Russell
Today I’m reviewing a book just because I liked it. It has few writing flaws, but it’s a fun read, nonetheless. I’m always interested in a murder mystery where the killer leaves “no clues.” The writer is laying down a challenge, to see how long he can hold the suspense without giving us any possibility […]
“Missing on Orbital 4” by Cory Wilcox
This book has all the requisite elements of both a Noir Detective Novel and a Space Opera. We have a former cop turned private investigator, trying to make a living with his wits. Because of the nature of the game, he plays both sides, having friends in the police and administration as well as contacts […]
“Captain Arnold Other Tales of the Abnormal” by Arthur M. Doweyko
This compilation of short stories is best described by comparison. It has the same style and intent as the old “Outer Limits” TV show. Always questioning our everyday reality. Always wondering, “What if…?” The stories run the gamut of Sci-Fi: a few UFOs, a touch of time travel, a shot of dystopian life of various […]
“Miscreants, Murderers, and Thieves!” by Samuel W. Reed
This is a short story anthology with a slightly misleading title, especially the exclamation mark. Some of the characters portrayed in these stories fall under those categories but many do not. In any case, most of them are entertaining, emotion producing or thought provoking. If there is any exclamation as you read, it is […]
“Get That Job!” by Christine Reidhead
This is one of those self-help books that everyone should check out, no matter how prepared you are for whatever it is you are trying to do. Even if you have a pretty good idea how to go about it, there is always some detail you might miss, some new twist you’re not aware of, […]
“Refraction” by Terry Geo
It’s difficult to give a mediocre review to what is basically a good story. But in this book there is just too much superfluous material keeping the reader from enjoying the characters and the conflict. This novel reads like the screenplay for an 8-episode Netscape series, complete with all the explanations of the scenes, telling […]
“Dagger and Scythe” By Emilie Knight
Well, this has to be the most unlikely love story in the history of the novel. The setup of the plot is that a certain god has a way to keep his humans in line; he has a coterie of undead assassins that go around committing random atrocities, thus frightening the faithful into submission. Dagger […]
“Grey Skies” by William Becker
I have nothing against surrealism. A surrealist work is like a puzzle that presents us with tantalizing hints of meaning, toys with our perception of it, dangling full understanding out of reach, and then leaves us with powerful images that keep reappearing in our minds, forcing us to reconsider what we have read. It makes […]
“A Time of Love and Tartan” by Alexander McCall Smith
People-watching is a fascinating pastime. It seems rather boring because most of one’s subjects do not inspire great interest. It’s sort of like buying lottery tickets: a mug’s game, as everyone knows. However, we are kept entranced by the possibility that any one of our humdrum attempts could suddenly turn out to be a winner. […]